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Do Board Gender Quotas Matter? Selection, Performance, and Stock Market Effects

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  • Giulia Ferrari

    (Department of Statistical Methods, INED, Institut National d’Études Démographiques, 93322 Aubervilliers Cedex, France)

  • Valeria Ferraro

    (Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467)

  • Paola Profeta

    (Department of Social and Political Science, Bocconi University, 20136 Milan, Italy; Axa Research Lab on Gender Equality, Bocconi University, 20136 Milan, Italy)

  • Chiara Pronzato

    (University of Turin, 10124 Turin, Italy; Collegio Carlo Alberto, 10122 Turin, Italy)

Abstract

From business to politics and academia, the economic effects of gender quotas are under scrutiny. We provide new causal evidence based on the introduction of mandatory gender quotas for boards of directors of Italian listed companies. Exploiting staggered board elections, we find that quotas are associated with a new selection of board members, characterized by higher education and lower age, and no significant costs on firm performance or the stock market.

Suggested Citation

  • Giulia Ferrari & Valeria Ferraro & Paola Profeta & Chiara Pronzato, 2022. "Do Board Gender Quotas Matter? Selection, Performance, and Stock Market Effects," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(8), pages 5618-5643, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:68:y:2022:i:8:p:5618-5643
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2021.4200
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    Cited by:

    1. Antoine Rebérioux & Gwenaël Roudaut, 2019. "The Role of Rookie Female Directors in a Post‐Quota Period: Gender Inequalities within French Boards," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(3), pages 423-483, July.
    2. Alessandra Casarico & Salvatore Lattanzio, 2024. "What Firms Do: Gender Inequality in Linked Employer-Employee Data," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(2), pages 325-355.
    3. Nina Smith, 2018. "Gender quotas on boards of directors," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 1-10, December.
    4. Barbara Pistoresi & Erica Poma & Alberto Rinaldi, 2022. "Gender quota on corporate boards in Italy: spillover effects and financial performance," Department of Economics 0208, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    5. Alkhawaja, Abdallah & Hu, Fang & Johl, Shireenjit & Nadarajah, Sivathaasan, 2023. "Board gender diversity, quotas, and ESG disclosure: Global evidence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    6. Joanna Tyrowicz & Hubert Drazkowski, 2024. "Gender tokenism in corporate boardrooms in Europe," GRAPE Working Papers 97, GRAPE Group for Research in Applied Economics.
    7. Alexandra Fedorets & Anna Gibert & Norma Burow, 2019. "Gender Quotas in the Boardroom: New Evidence from Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1810, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    8. Alexandra Fedorets & Anna Gibert, 2022. "Lifting Women Up: Gender Quotas and the Advancement of Women on Corporate Boards," Working Papers 1370, Barcelona School of Economics.
    9. Alessandra Michelangeli & Umut Türk, 2019. "Cities as drivers of social mobility," Working Papers 397, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Jan 2019.
    10. Cao, Zhiyan & Upadhyay, Arun & Zeng, Hongchao, 2024. "Are all female directors equal? Incentives and effectiveness of female independent directors," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    11. Filandri, Marianna & Pasqua, Silvia & Priori, Eleonora, 2023. "Breaking through the glass ceiling. Simulating policies to close the gender gap in the Italian academia," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    12. Helene Maghin, 2022. "Cracks in the Boards: The Opportunity Cost of Governance Homogeneity," CESifo Working Paper Series 9816, CESifo.
    13. Silvia Del Prete & Maria Lucia Stefani, 2021. "Women as “gold dust”: Gender diversity in top boards and the performance of Italian banks," Economic Notes, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, vol. 50(2), July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    education; age; financial markets;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • J48 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Particular Labor Markets; Public Policy
    • J78 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Public Policy (including comparable worth)

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